Cultivating the Fruits of the Spirit: JOY (+ free embroidery pattern) Posted on April 27th, 2012
Join me today for the second installment of my nine-month series on The Fruit of the Spirit and its cultivation in our lives. You can also get our Free embroidery pattern PDF download featuring JOY through May 12.
If you missed the free download for LOVE from last month’s post, it is available for purchase as a PDF download at our etsy shop.
Cultivating the Fruits of the Spirit: LOVE Posted on March 28th, 2012
Join me over at Raising Homemakers (link updated) today for the first installment in my Fruit of the Spirit series and a free embroidery pattern from Clementine Patterns Co.
All There Posted on March 23rd, 2012
“Wherever you are – be all there.”
- Jim Elliott
Lovin’ the Big Years! Posted on February 10th, 2012
I love these years. These “big” years.
When they were little they chattered . . . a lot. We have conversations now. Lots of them. So now we chatter together.
When they were little they painted and made messes. I cleaned the messes. Now they clean their own messes and still paint.
When they were little they wanted to push the buttons on the computer and camera. Now they have their own buttons and create masterpieces.
“Fat souls are better than clean floors.” A quote read by daughter #1 from Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic.
“Children are individuals and they don’t forget that.” Another snippet from the above mentioned book.
When we read books we can’t help but share with each other what we are reading. It’s sweet, they like to read to me now.
The oldest girl says she can see the glimmer in my eyes as I sit here typing on her laptop. Ha. She says that I must be typing something poetic about her as she laughs out loud.
She says, “can I read one more thing? This is cute . . . .”
These girls are so funny, they make me laugh.
Yep, little girls grown up. I love these years.
Back to the Start Posted on January 25th, 2012
What’s your Hobby? Posted on January 9th, 2012
A few nights ago around the dinner table we had a conversation sparked by something I read in the Duggars’ book, A Love that Multiplies. In one part, Jim Bob Duggar talks about what his hobby is. I have to admit, when I first read it, I was a little surprised, although I shouldn’t have been. He said his hobby was… (read the rest today over at Raising Homemakers)
Brand New Year with Brand New Endeavors Posted on January 4th, 2012
Our family is starting 2012 with some exciting new adventures – art, designing, sewing, upholstery and essential oils to name a few.
Breezy is busy creating art, and it is always delightful to peak over her shoulder to see what is appearing on the paper. Emily Rose is juggling several different web design and photography projects — I can hear her fingers flying over the keyboard even now. Besides Rob’s regular work schedule, he has an antique car upholstery job to work on. Me, well, I am tweaking our menus to a more “normal” healthy diet. After going gluten-free 2 years ago and then last year going completely grain free, we are working back to more familiar flavors within a healthy, gluten-free diet. What I like to call the “new normal”.
This past November the girls and I started a new embroidery pattern business. It is a complete joy to work on together as a family. Breezy and Emily Rose both put their creative touches on the designs and then I get to stitch up the patterns and be the “textile manager”. Rob helps with delivery and is our biggest encourager. Clementine Pattern Co. was named after a great-great grandmother (and the fact that we all love the name Clementine helped, too). We will be adding more patterns throughout the year to the Etsy shop and hope to include tutorials & videos on the main website, ClementinePatterns.com. The fact that I love to embroider makes this almost too good to be true!
Something else that we are adding to our family this is year is using Young Living Essential Oils. After reading Stacy McDonald’s blog, The Common Scents Mom, and having actually used some that we were given, we were ready to try some more. So far, we are having wonderful results with the oils that we have been using – more about that in future posts. Stacy posted a great Natural First Aid Wall Chart that shows how she is incorporating essential oils in her family and getting rid of several over-the-counter medications. I already printed and hung up my copy so the whole family can see how to use the oils. We are all very excited to use more natural products and to get the great health benefits of the oils.
We did sign up to be a wholesale distributors of Young Living Essential Oils so that we could get better prices. If you are interested in placing an order through our account, our customer # is 1285966.
Joy to the World Posted on December 24th, 2011
May you and your family rejoice in the Lord. And may His steadfast love be ever a reminder of His great mercy.
Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.
Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.
-Isaac Watts